John Blodgett, of MacKay & Company, says a recent company survey showed 75 percent of all fleet maintenance was performed in-house in 2011, but that is expected to drop to 69 percent by the year 2016.

“I think what we’re seeing is a lot of fleets asking ‘What is our primary business?,’” he says. “‘ Is it fixing all these vehicles and keeping the vehicles running, or is it in transport?’”

A recent MacKay survey revealed that 82 percent of responding fleets wanted to outsource more of their service.

“Fleets consistently tell us they want to outsource more work, but we’ve not seen that shift yet,” he says.

According to the survey, there are currently 2.8 million Class 8 vehicles on the road, which equates to 293 million hours of service labor opportunity. An additional 84 million hours is available in trailer work.

The survey also revealed proximity was a major factor in how fleets chose maintenance providers, citing an engine overhaul as the only service fleet owners said they would drive more than 35 minutes to receive. Respondents said 38 minutes was the limit.